Pitcher-Plant Sarcophagids From Manitoba and Ontario

Insect Conserv Diversity

2017

Different processes drive spatial variation in community composition. Standard measures of composition are useful in species‐based conservation and ecology, but they may be less informative in the context of evolutionary history and functional diversity. Functional and phylogenetic approaches are increasingly used to test mechanisms driving biodiversity patterns. We studied 28 families of flies (Diptera) with a range of functional characteristics in three wetland classes (bogs, swamps, marshes) in Quebec, Canada. We examined taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional structure of communities and assessed whether rarity is deterministic or stochastic. Beta‐ and phylobeta‐diversity were also examined for relatedness to local environmental conditions, patch area, and/or surrounding landscape. Phylogenetic community structure analyses had high value and complementarity to standard measures. Environmental filtering acted on bog communities during assembly, as they emerged from a slow peat accumulation process and the plant composition is characteristic as few species can survive in these acidic and low nutrient conditions. Subsequently, community assembly happened randomly. Neutral processes of community assembly are more important in marshes and swamps, as dispersal limitation explained species abundance dynamics of small and common Diptera species. The assembly of marsh communities is a balance between neutral processes and environmental filtering, while assembly in swamps can be seen as neutral. Clustering increased with environmental extremes, indicating environmental filtering. Rare species tended to be less closely related to common species. They have unique habitat requirements, and the high diversity is maintained by temporal turnover of species with similar traits filtered by the environment.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracking wetland community evolution using Diptera taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic structure

Insect Conserv Diversity

2017

“…Three of those species were found in this study: Spelobia pappi Roháček and Phthitia ovicercus Marshall in abandoned and restored Smaller numbers of species in other families are also known to be associated with peatlands. Two species of Canadian Sarcophagidae, Fletcheromyia fletcheri (Aldrich) and Sarcophaga sarraceniae Riley, are indicators of the peatland-restricted pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea (Farkas and Brust 1986) and were found in the three treatments. In the Tabanidae (Teskey 1969, Teskey andBurger 1976), a number of species of Hybomitra Enderlein considered characteristic of bogs were found in our sites: H. minuscula (Hine), H. sodalis (Williston), H. trepida (McDunnough), H. typhus (Whitney) and H. pechumani Teskey and Thomas.…”

Section: Effects Of Peat Mining and Restorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community assembly of Diptera following restoration of mined boreal bogs: taxonomic and functional diversity

2011

J Insect Conserv

Peat mining causes major degradation to bogs and natural regeneration of these sites is slow and often incomplete. Thus, restoration is an important tool for re-establishing natural ecosystem properties (although perhaps not the original species pool) in mined bogs. Because faunal recovery cannot be taken for granted following plant restoration, we assessed community assembly of higher flies (Diptera: Brachycera) in previously mined bogs 7 years after restoration. Species assemblages in restored sites were compared to those in nearby natural and abandoned mined sites. The three treatment types did not differ significantly in overall species composition, suggesting high resilience to disturbance. However, species richness and evenness were generally lower in abandoned sites than restored and natural sites, which had similar abundance distributions, indicating that restoration enhanced recovery of species diversity and community structure. Functional traits (trophic group, body size) provided a different insight into the status of restored sites. Trophic and small size-class (\5 mm) composition in restored sites were similar to those in abandoned sites. However, high species richness estimates indicated that predators and saprophages successfully colonized restored sites. Species assemblages were mostly affected by coverage of bare peat, Sphagnum mosses and ericaceous shrubs; trophic assemblages were affected by variables directly linked to feeding habits. Our results suggest that active restoration is needed for the renewal of high species and trophic diversity, although it is clear from environmental conditions and functional traits that the restored sites are not yet fully functioning peatlands 7 years after restoration.

“…Diptera are associated with a variety of terrestrial, semi-aquatic, or aquatic peatland habitats including mud shores, vascular plants, decaying organic matter, emergent vegetation, macrophytes, and algal mats (Ferrar 1987;Keiper et al 2002). Some Diptera species are peatland specialists, because their larval or adult food resource or breeding media is either restricted to or characteristic of peatlands (Teskey and Burger 1976;Farkas and Brust 1986;Marshall 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Latitudinal patterns in phylogenetic and functional diversity of Diptera in temperate bogs

2019

Can Entomol

Conservation of biodiversity is growing in interest, and wetlands are disappearing at an alarming rate, so understanding how communities are assembled and how interactions among species and ecosystems influence evolution is critical to the management of threatened habitats. We compared diversity and assemblages of peatland Diptera within and between ecoregions in Québec, Canada. We then determined the phylogenetic structure of peatland Diptera communities and how the structure differed with spatial scale (trap, site, ecoregion). Finally, we tested alpha and beta diversity along environmental and spatial gradients to determine which processes influence Diptera communities and diversity. Bogs across the three ecoregions support similar abundance, species richness, and functional diversity. We found that the major forces structuring Diptera assemblages in bogs across Québec are stochastic processes such as dispersal limitations. However, those random patterns change to clustering when anthropogenic disturbances modify the landscape. Assembly rules are mostly dictated by patch and landscape parameters specific to each ecoregion affecting dispersal and establishment between sites. Conservation of mobile organisms in habitats such as bogs will depend on conservation plans focusing on both patch quality and surrounding landscape, and that different conservation strategies need to be applied in different ecoregions.